We are in the middle of the “Fortnight of Religious Freedom” which will end July 4th. Have you ever wondered how we allowed ourselves to even get to a position where we would have to be worried about losing our religious liberty?

There isn’t a simple answer, there are many factors but one of them, one right near the top, is that it is our own fault. We have let those with an agenda which is against religion, free enterprise, success and the Constitution convince us they are right and we are wrong. This didn’t happen over night, nor will it be reversed over night but if we recognize what has happened then we can work to change it.

Everyone should read “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinsky. It outlines exactly what these folks who are behind this have done and continue to do. It isn’t pretty and that my friends is why they are winning. They don’t play nice.

We, as Catholics and more importantly Christians, believe in doing the right thing, the nice thing, turn the other cheek is a phrase that comes to mind. This plays right into their hands. Alinsky’s rule 13 states:

“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize, and polarize it.

Have you ever noticed how the left is always attacking their enemies? They put them on the defensive and they win as their opponent will spend all their time defending themselves. Look at the HHS mandate, the left has taken it from the government  taking away our religious liberty, which is what it is, and attacking Catholics for infringing on a woman’s right to healthcare. It has nothing to do with healthcare, but we find ourselves arguing this point instead of the real issue. They call us Homophobes because we don’t believe in homosexuality or same-sex marriage, because we believe the Bible when it says it is wrong. We fall into their trap.

I admit that I have been as guilty as this over the last forty years as anyone. I let the left convince me it is okay to sin, that the Catholic Church was bad because it didn’t want me to go out and have sex with anyone I wanted. I let them convince me there was no black and white when it came to moral issues but everything was grey. They have convinced enough of us this is true and now our moral compass, our moral grounding has been eroded, so much so we no longer can tell the difference between right and wrong. (Another of Alinsky’s rules is #11, “If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside.”).

If we are to survive, if we are to keep this country free, we need to change this back. I know what I have done. I have returned to the church, I am learning its teachings and those of God. And most importantly, I am fighting back. I am done being nice, letting the other side convince me there is a grey area. I am asking them to prove their arguments, which they can’t. I don’t let their demonizing bother me. They no longer make me question my faith.

This is how we need to fight back. We need to use their tactics against them. Yes, we have God on our side but sometimes He needs a little help.